When did Clayton Kershaw get to be the best pitcher in the game?

Obligatory in any story about the Clayton Kershaw contract extension has been an assertion that Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball.

Brian MacPherson Journal Sports Writer brianmacp

Obligatory in any story about the Clayton Kershaw contract extension has been an assertion that Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball.

When Kershaw retires, part of his legacy -- the narrative of his career -- will be that he was the Best In The Game for a period that began in 2012 or 2013 and ended at a yet-to-be-determined point.

Over time, the distinction of Best In The Game has been thrown around quite a bit. It can be molded and shaped by the arbitrary boundaries of the era in question, certainly. It seems clear that the Best In The Game at any point must be coming off a dominant season, perhaps the most productive season in the major leagues, but also must have strung together several dominant seasons.

One example: A point made in favor of Jack Morris during Hall of Fame voting season was that Morris was the Best In The Game in the 1980s -- even though the 1980s also prominently featured Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Dwight Gooden and Nolan Ryan. It's hard to pinpoint even a three-year window in the 1980s during which Morris -- who never finished higher than third in Cy Young Award voting -- was the best in the game, let alone an entire decade. Morris was at his peak from 1985-87, but he still trailed Clemens and Gooden in most statistical categories in those three seasons.

So what does it mean to be the Best In The Game? Is Kershaw the best in the game now? When did Kershaw get to be the best pitcher in the game?

Kershaw was far and away the best pitcher in baseball in 2013. His ERA+ of 194 dramatically outdistanced Miami rookie Jose Fernandez and Detroit righty Anibal Sanchez. Over the last three seasons, Kershaw has an ERA+ of 166, well ahead of Justin Verlander (149) and Cliff Lee (139) -- his primary competitors for the Best In The Game mantle. He leads all pitchers in ERA and strikeouts in the last three seasons, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio is second only to Lee. He even ranks second (to James Shields) in complete games in that span.

But Kershaw is a newcomer to the Best In The Game throne. Entering the 2013 season, Verlander was the unquestioned Best In The Game. He'd posted an ERA+ of 161 in 2012, ahead of Kershaw (150) and David Price (150). Over the previous three seasons, he led the major leagues in ERA+ -- ahead of Kershaw, Jered Weaver and Lee. He had more strikeouts than any pitcher in that span. He ranked seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio. Only Roy Halladay and Felix Hernandez had more complete games.

Certainly after the 2011 season, Verlander likewise was considered the Best In The Game. He led the major leagues in ERA+, that season. He won the Cy Young Award and was named American League Most Valuable Player. It was in 2011 that Verlander took the mantle from Roy Halladay, who actually had a better ERA+ than Verlander in the three-year window leading up to and including 2011.

Halladay posted an ERA+ of 160 from 2008-11, easily the highest mark in the major leagues in that span. Kershaw ranked ninth in ERA+ in that span, Verlander 16th. The closest competitor to Halladay was Felix Hernandez, whose ERA+ was 154 from 2008-10. Behind him was the perennially underrated Adam Wainwright, whose ERA+ was 151.

Going back a little further, the rein of Halladay as Best In The Game began when that of Tim Lincecum ended. Lincecum posted ERA+'s of 168 and 171 in back-to-back seasons in 2008 and 2009, the two years he was the National League Cy Young Award winner.

And so on.

Where does that leave us? An unscientific year-by-year look at Best In The Game: